On the second day of our Todyssey, we visited Niagara Falls, but Diane and Todd didn't take me to see them because they said it would be too crowded, and I really don't like crowds. I didn't mind waiting for them in the Big Rolling Crate, though, because I am satisfied with having seen their pictures. I don't know why people have to see everything for themselves when they could just look at pictures, but I guess it's a good thing, because it means we get to take adventures like this one.
Before I tell you about Diane and Todd's exploration of Niagara Falls, I need to offer some reassurances to my friends out there who are saying, "They left her in a vehicle! In the summer! They are bad, bad people." Diane and Todd would never, ever leave me in a hot vehicle. The day we visited Niagara Falls, the outside temperature was only around 70 and it was very overcast and breezy at the falls. I was able to nap on the bed with a gentle breeze coming through the windows while they did all their silly human tourism, and I was never uncomfortable at all. If anything, Diane and Todd are obsessively concerned about my comfort and wellbeing, so please don't worry about me.
Now back to my story...
Although Diane once visited Niagara Falls before, she was overwhelmed at the sight. She said that as soon as she glimpsed them, tears sprang to her eyes because they were so beautiful. She and Todd went out on the observation tower where they could see both the American and Canadian falls, and then the rode the elevator to the floor of the falls, put on blue plastic ponchos, and walked up a staircase called "The Crow's Nest," which takes you up under the spray of the falls.
Diane says her exact experience of that was a strong urge to shout, "Okay! That's enough! Turn the water off!" It was like having bucket after bucket thrown directly in her face. But of course you can't turn off Niagara Falls. It's been flowing since I'm guessing the last ice age (if only we had cell reception here, I'd tell Diane to go look that up and make sure), and it'll keep flowing forever. Even as I sit here now, in South Dakota, days later, those falls are still churning, still pummeling stupid tourists in the blue plastic ponchos. There's something truly amazing about that.
After our visit to Niagara Falls, we finished our tour of Upstate New York, following I-90 through Buffalo and down into Pennsylvania and onto to Ohio where we stopped for the night at another Walmart parking lot. This one really did allow campers, and there were a whole bunch there when we arrived. This one was also 24-hours, which was nice as we rolled up around 12:30 AM, but Diane and Todd were still able to go inside and get some provisions. Personally, I liked the soft grass in the medians there.
In the morning, Todd made coffee on a camp stove right there in the parking lot and we hit the road early.
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